


Assumptions and Expectations

by I_dunno



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Slow Burn, Steve Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:15:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25907953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_dunno/pseuds/I_dunno
Summary: After the gate is closed, Steve goes to college. In his Women's Studies class, he's assigned a project with his old classmate, Robin, and the mysterious out of towner, Kali. That project sets them on a track of friendship, questioning, and painful honesty.
Relationships: Eventual Kali Prasad/Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Kali Prasad, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Everyone
Comments: 9
Kudos: 28





	1. Voltairine de Cleyre

**Author's Note:**

> Here I go writing another fic again! This one is going to be a lot more chill than my last fic XD the hardest struggles will be internal rather than external. There will be some angst, but also plenty of fluff.

“Buckley, Harrington, Prasad, you’ll be doing Voltairine de Cleyre.” Professor Stubbs read off her list. Steve Harrington frowned as he looked around his Women’s Studies class and saw who he was going to be working with. Robin Buckley had definitely caught his attention in class, both by being really pretty and by being an avid participant in class. Steve of a couple years ago, or even a few months ago, would have probably ended up spending most of Women’s Studies flirting with her. 

But between college and the kids, Steve didn’t really have much time to be pursuing a romantic entanglement, even a casual one. And besides, Women’s Studies was actually really interesting. He had signed up for it after Dustin had sarcastically suggested it while Steve was cooking dinner (apparently Steve had all the practical mom skills but none of the style- whatever that meant). Then Max had punched Dustin’s arm and said he should take it without any sarcasm in her voice.

Christ, how sad is it that his main source of guidance for course selection is the kids he babysits, Steve wondered as he turned to regard his other partner, Kali Prasad. She easily stood out as the only Asian girl in the class, and probably in Hawkins in general. She was really going all in on the punk look, and with her standoffish demeanor and the expressionless looks Steve had noticed her giving him once or twice, she definitely sold the Aloof-City-Girl attitude. Honestly, Steve had no idea why she was at Hawkins Community College. She wasn’t a local, Steve knew, and she definitely seemed smart enough to have gotten into a better college, based on what Steve noticed. It was a mystery Steve was curious about, and maybe she’d share her reasons when they worked together on this project.

Or maybe not, Steve thought as Buckley and Prasad glared at him as he approached them after class.

“Hey guys, I-” Steve began.

“Cram it Harrington. Leave us alone and we’ll take care of your part of the stupid project, okay?” Robin snapped as Kali gave him a stony look.

“Wait- what?” Steve asked, legitimately confused. He knew he had been a dick to Robin in high school, but everyone knew he had given up his throne to Billy senior year. And he didn’t think he’d done anything to her to warrant this level of blatant hostility.

“Please, give me a little credit Harrington, everyone knows you’re just taking this class to impress girls and get laid. And honestly Kali and I will probably do a better job on our own than trying to humor you.”

Steve crossed his arms and looked down at Robin, who crossed her arms and stared back at him defiantly. “Look, Robin, I know I was a dick for most of high school, and I am really sorry about that. But I’ve honestly changed, and whether you believe that or not, I don’t think I’ve done anything in this class to warrant your attitude.”

“Ooh, warrant! Look at King Steve breaking out the multisyllabic words!” Robin scoffed. “The only reason you haven’t hit on anyone is because nobody sits next to you.” 

“I can’t control who sits next to me.” Steve replied coolly.

“You’re the only boy in that class.” 

“That sounds more like a problem with other guys than with me. And like your first point, I can’t control what other people do.”

“You barely participate in the class.”

“Because the one time I tried to contribute to the discussion everyone looked at me like I grew a second head, including the professor!”

“You still have your asshole haircut!”

“Would you tell a girl she’s just an asshole looking for sex because of her haircut?”

Robin continued glaring at him for a moment before they both turned to see Kali quietly chuckling. “Not as stupid as he looks, is he?”

“I’m right here you know.” Steve grumbled before turning back to Robin. “Listen, if you don’t want to forgive me for what I did in high school, I get it. I was awful back then. But at least give me a chance to prove I’m not a complete idiot. Besides, I read ahead a bit in the textbook and this Voltairine chick actually sounds really interesting.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe that.”

“Robin, Steve, while listening to you two argue is incredibly entertaining, I do want to get home within the next three hours. So can we just agree to meet up in the college library on Friday and work on this thing?” Kali said, heading off any potential reignition of their earlier argument.

“College library is closed. Something about a burst pipe.” Robin replied.

“Fine, the public library then?”

“I’ve uh… I’ve burnt some bridges there.” Steve confessed with a blush. “Back when I was an asshole. And honestly the librarian kinda terrifies me. So you can check out books there, but I’m fairly certain if I step foot inside I’ll catch a shotgun blast to the face.”

“Well shit. We can’t use my place, my roommate is crazy paranoid and will probably actually shoot you.” Kali said.

“I wasn’t kidding about Marissa shooting me…” Steve mumbled.

“Well my house is out. My parents are… not the most open minded.” Robin muttered, eyes downcast. “Much as they want me to get a boyfriend, they would never actually let me have a boy inside the house. And honestly my dad would probably scream something really racist at you Kali.”

Steve sighed. “Alright, I’m going to make a proposal, and Robin, you have to hear me out before you break my ribs again.”

“Again?” asked Kali and Robin simultaneously.

“I mean I don’t want to get my ribs broken again, not that Robin has previously broken my ribs.” Steve clarified. “Anyways, you guys can come over and we can work at my place Friday. My parents will be out of town, they kind of always are, but I’ve got a babysitting gig Friday so it’s not like we’ll be alone if that’s what you’re worried about Robin.”

“You? Babysitting? Since when was King Steve a babysitter?” Robin asked incredulously.

“Since I let Billy fucking Hargrove beat the shit out of me so that he wouldn’t hurt a bunch of middle schoolers!” Steve snapped. “I’m sorry, that- look, just come by Friday, okay? We don’t have to talk about anything except de Cleyre if you don’t want to.”

“Fine…” Robin agreed reluctantly. “But I’m bringing a knife. No funny business.”

Even Kali raised an eyebrow at that. “Bring a fucking broadsword for all I care.” Steve sighed as he walked away, before turning to ask “You guys don’t have any dietary restrictions, do you? I don’t wanna like, make a meatloaf to find out one of you is vegetarian.”

“No, thanks for asking though.” Kali said with an unreadable look on her face as Robin just shook her head while squinting at Steve. Since when did ‘The Hair’ cook meatloaf?


	2. Grudge

“Alright shitheads, I’m not gonna be here for your nerd game tonight, I have some fr- classmates coming over to work on a project for college. So you shits gotta be on your best behavior, got it?”

There was a chorus of “Yes Steve”s before the babysitter smiled and went to take the lasagna out of the oven. It was at that moment that the doorbell rang, of course.

“Can one of you get that?” Steve shouted to the kids as he put on oven mitts.

“I got it!” Dustin yelled, and there was a thunder of footsteps as the curly haired boy ran to answer the doorbell.

“Come on in guys.” Steve called out as he began to cut the lasagna. Dustin ran into the kitchen, followed by Robin and Kali, who looked amused despite themselves.

“You never said your friends were girls!” Dustin said as he grabbed a plate and slid a piece of lasagna onto it before waving his hand in the air.

“You never fail to amaze me with how frequently you forget that things I take out of the oven are hot.” Steve said with a fond shake of his head. “And what does it matter that they’re girls?”

“Look, your lasagna is the best, okay? Love makes you crazy, you of all people would know that.”

Robin was pretty sure she saw Steve tense up at that. She wondered what the kid was referring to that made Steve go from happy and relaxed to pretending to be happy and relaxed.

“Company.” Steve said in a warning tone before perking back up and asking “So are you saying my lasagna is better than Mrs Wheeler’s?”

Dustin looked over his shoulder exaggeratedly before mock-whispering “Yes, but don’t tell her I said that.”

Robin couldn’t help but believe the authenticity of the smile that spread across Steve’s face when Dustin said that.

“Steve one, Wheelers zilch!” Steve cheered as he ruffled Dustin’s hair before plating more lasagna. “C’mon and help me take this to the rest of your nerd squad.” Steve said before seeming to remember Kali and Robin were there. “You guys can start getting set up. Help yourselves to lasagna now if you want any, these brats eat like a small army. Plates are in that cabinet, silverware is in the drawer next to the sink.”

Robin watched Steve and the kid walk out of the kitchen with confusion written plainly across her face. She heard the curly haired kid snarking at Steve (“By the way, this is literally the first time you’ve beaten any of the Wheelers at anything. Need I remind you about-” “No. You don’t.”). “Let’s see how good this really is.” she heard Kali say as she served herself some lasagna.

Steve came back in with a happy smile on his face as he took off the apron Robin hadn’t even noticed he’d been wearing and sat down at the kitchen counter. “Sorry about that.” he said as he pulled out a notebook and a pen. “So, Voltairine.”

“How many of them are there?” Robin heard Kali ask as she took a bite of her lasagna.

“How many of who- oh you mean the kids. That was Dustin, there’s also Will, Mike, Max, Lucas, and- Dustin, Will, Mike, Max, Lucas.”

“Will Byers?” Robin asked despite herself. “Isn’t he-”

“Yes and he doesn’t like to talk about it so you are not going to ask about his disappearance, got it?” Steve said with a steely tone.

Robin raised her hands defensively. “I was  _ going _ to say, isn’t he Jonathan Byers’ little brother?” Steve nodded as he took a bit of lasagna. “Why the hell are you looking after the brother of the guy who stole your girlfriend and beat you up?”

Kali cocked her head curiously and watched Steve’s adam’s apple bob as he swallowed his food. “Yeah. And first of all, I don’t hold Will’s brother’s actions against him. Second of all, Byers was absolutely justified in giving me a shiner. Third of all, he didn’t  _ steal _ Nancy, she just chose him instead of me, and honestly I can’t blame her. She… I wasn’t right for her. She was too good for me. And she and Jonathan are really happy together, so I’m happy for them.”

“Do you still have feelings for this Nancy girl?” Kali asked in a teasing tone.

Steve thought about it for a moment as he chewed his food. “Ya know, I don’t think I do anymore. Not romantically, anyways. She’s still an brilliant badass, but I don’t think I-”

“Steve!” Mike shouted as he ran into the room. “Where did you put the player’s handbook I lent you? Dustin keeps saying-”

“In my room. Pretty sure I left it next to my stats textbook.” 

Mike thanked him and ran upstairs.

“Players handbook?” Robin asked with a knowing smirk.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Don’t gimme that look. The kids love it and they want me to get more involved than keeping track of monsters’ health for Mike.”

“They… want? I don’t get this. That was your ex’s little brother. And if Max is Billy’s sister (“Step-sister” Steve instinctually corrected) then three out of those five kids are related to people who broke your heart or broke your face. I don’t buy that you’re just doing this because you turned over a new leaf. I don’t know what kind of sick revenge you’re planning-”

“Seriously Buckley? You think I’m trying to what, kidnap these kids because I had shit with some of their siblings?” Steve shouted. “You don’t have to like me or forgive me, but you could at least have the decency not to insinuate I’m a pedophile in my own home! So either shank me with that knife you mentioned and get it over with or we can sit down and try to get our damn project done!”

There was a moment of silence before Kali shoved books at Steve and Robin. There was silence for the rest of the night as they read and took notes. The tension in the air was thick enough to keep the kids from saying anything as they came back into the kitchen for seconds and thirds before scurrying back to their game.

Eventually there was a honk outside and Max came through the kitchen on her way to the door. “See ya Red.” Steve said. “Remember, if you ever-”

“I know Steve.” she said with a small, sad smile. “You don’t need to say it every time.”

“Maybe you don’t need to hear it every time, but I… take care, okay Max?” Steve said before the horn honked again and Max ran out the door with a wave goodbye.

“What was that all about?” Kali asked.

“It doesn’t- it’s not really my place…” Steve began when the phone rang. Kali was pretty sure he was relieved for the distraction as he sprang up to grab the phone.

“Harrington residence, Steve speaking.” he said with practiced ease. “Hey Nance! Is everything okay?” he said with a frown. “Oh yeah, no problem. Did you get caught up at work, or…” Kali heard Steve softly chuckle. “Alright, I get it. You two have fun. I’ll… yeah, I guess I did. Not that you need it. But yeah, it’s fine. I usually drop Will off last anyways. I don’t think he’ll… yeah, okay. See ya around Nance.” Steve hung up the phone before turning to Kali and Robin. “I gotta drive the boys home pretty soon, so it’s probably time for us to call it a night. Thanks for coming over, and Robin, I’m sorry I… we can talk about it later. If you want.” he said with a meaningful glance towards the doorway where some protruding brown curls betrayed the presence of an eavesdropper.

“That’s… okay.” Robin said as she stood and collected her schoolwork.

“Thanks for dinner Steve.” Kali called over her shoulder as she and Robin left.

Steve waited for a moment after the front door closed before turning around. “Alright shitheads, what did we say about eavesdropping?”

“Sorry Steve.” Dustin said sheepishly as he stepped fully into view. “It’s my turn to ride shotgun, right? Lucas thinks it’s his turn but-”

Steve rolled his eyes as he put his shoes on. “No, it’s Mike’s turn, since tonight he gets the privilege of riding with us instead of his sister.

“What’s Nancy busy with?” Mike asked while leaning against the wall and putting his sneakers on.

“Work.” Steve lied. “Now chop chop, you know how Joyce worries when Will is late.”

“You mean when I’m not early?” the youngest Byers asked with a grin.

“You’re not wrong.” Steve said with a chuckle, ruffling the kids hair as he grabbed his keys.

“I think you should apologize to Steve.” Kali said abruptly from the passenger seat of Robin’s car as they drove through the cool fall evening.

“I’m sorry what?” asked Robin incredulously. 

“You heard me.” Kali said as she continued to stare out the window.

“Listen, Kali, you never knew him in high school, he was the biggest asshole. He-”

“Yeah.  _ Was _ . People change, Robin. He’s said he’s sorry, he’s tried to be accommodating and you keep being a dick to him.”

“You don’t know what he did! He-”

Robin stopped as Kali turned to face her. “Robin. Listen to me. Sometimes you need to let the past stay in the past. You don’t have to forget what he did to you, you don’t even need to forgive him for it, but you need to recognize that he’s not that high school douchebag anymore.”

“...I’ll consider it.” Robin conceded as she pulled up in front of the apartment building where Kali was living. 

“Thank you. For listening and for the ride. I’ll see you around.” Kali said as she stepped out of the car.

The boys were uncharacteristically quiet as they piled into Steve’s car. He saw them exchanging glances as he pulled out of his driveway, and it seemed they silently designated Dustin to speak for them.

“So Steve… we couldn’t help but overhear you arguing with Robin earlier…” Steve tensed before Dustin reached forwards to pat him awkwardly on the shoulder.

“Sorry about that… but maybe she had a point, you know? Not about me being a kidnapper or a pedophile or whatever, but about it being weird for me to be hanging around with you guys. You’re going into high school, you don’t need a babysitter, if you want me to stop-”

“Steve, shut the fuck up.” Dustin interrupted with a gentle flick to Steve’s temple. “We don’t just invite anyone to play D&D with us. You took a plate to the head for Lucas. You were a part of saving the world. You were ready to die for me down in the tunnels! You’re part of the Party Steve, whether you like it or not.”

“It’s okay guys, I can still drive you around and stuff, you just don’t have to-”

“STEVE IF YOU WEREN’T DRIVING I WOULD SLAP YOU!” Dustin shouted before lowering his voice, if only slightly. “Steve, we love you man. We don’t just pretend to like you so you’ll drive us around. I can’t speak for the others but you’re… you’re like…” Steve pulled over as Dustin began sniffling. He climbed out of the backseat to squeeze Steve in a tight hug. Steve couldn’t really make out all of what Dustin was crying, but if Steve hadn’t known any better he would have sworn he heard the words “big brother” and “dad gone”.

“It’s okay kid.” Steve whispered as Dustin cried into his shirt. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve held Dustin for a few more minutes until the tears trailed off. Steve was honestly impressed that the others weren’t giving Dustin shit for this. They were just awkwardly trying to look at anything except their crying friend.

Eventually though, Will cleared his throat. “Guys I’m glad you’re having a moment, but my mom is probably five minutes away from calling Hopper right now…” The car filled with warm, comfortable laughter as Dustin wiped away his tears and got back in his seat.

After that, it was a pretty normal ride, filled with easy conversation and gentle teasing. The only difference was that each kid made sure to give Steve a hug before they walked up to their front door.

The next day, Saturday, Robin was working her normal shift in the Scoops Ahoy at the Starcourt Mall when five kids walked in together. They did not, however, have the expressions that kids normally wore when they entered the ice cream shop. Confused and a little on edge, Robin decided to play it safe and go with the default line: “Hi there! Welcome to Scoops Ahoy! What can I get for you today?”

The kid in front of the posse- Nancy’s brother, Mike- frowned at her. “We’re not here for ice cream.”

Robin sighed. “Look twerps, whatever Steve wants to tell me, he can tell me himself. Now if you’re not going to get anything-”

“We’re not here because of Steve! Well we are, but we’re not here  _ from _ him.” Mike said, crossing his arms. “We’re here to tell you you’re wrong about him. He used to be a jerk; he was a dick to me when he was dating Nancy and he bullied Will’s brother. But he  _ changed _ . He has been through hell and back for us. If I can forgive him for being a jerk to me and my sister, if Will can forgive him for tormenting Jonathan, then you better have a  _ damn _ good reason to be holding a grudge like you do. He’d never admit it to us, much less you, but he’s a sensitive guy, and you hurt him. And he’s one of us. And if you hurt him again, we will ruin you.”

Robin would have normally laughed out loud at a bunch of kids threatening to ruin her. But she was already feeling bad after Kali’s talk last night, and there was something in Mike’s tone, or his eyes, or body language or  _ something _ . It was a mixture of cold anger, quiet confidence, and a weariness Robin couldn’t even begin to guess at. She opened her mouth to reply when a familiar voice said “There you little shitheads are! You can’t just run off like that, if you wanted ice cream you could have just-” Steve froze when his eyes landed on Robin. “Oh. I’m sorry, they-”

“Don’t apologize to  _ her. _ ” Dustin said. “We’re not hungry.” He said as he grabbed Steve’s wrist and dragged him towards where Jonathan and Nancy were waiting just outside the storefront, looking at the scene with confusion.

“Wait! Steve- can we talk?” Robin asked hesitantly as the rest of the kids followed Dustin towards the door. A billion unidentifiable emotions flickered across Steve’s face before he settled on a plastic smile. “Sure thing!” he said. “Jonancy, can you take the kids out to the cars? I’ll meet you there.”

“Stop calling us that!” the couple said in unison, but without any hint of malice, more like it was a running joke. Robin watched Steve’s friends leave, not missing the dark look Mike shot her over his shoulder as he was leaving.

“Steve, I just wanted to say-” Robin said at the same time Steve said “Listen, Robin, I’m sorry about-” they stopped talking and there was a moment of awkward silence before Robin said “You first.”

“Yeah, I uh, I just wanted to apologize to you. Like, formally. I was a piece of shit in high school, to you and your friends, and probably a lot of people who weren’t your friends. And I also wanted to apologize for raising my voice last night, just because I was angry doesn’t mean it was okay.”

“Well, it’s not like I was being quiet either. And I wanted to just apologize for… not moving on, I guess. You hurt me a lot in high school, casual cruelty I don’t think you even realized was hurtful…”

“Not at the time…” Steve murmured.

“...but you’ve obviously changed a lot since then. And honestly it took a lot more than it should have for me to realize I was being an ass. Like, I don’t know her that well, but I get the feeling Kali doesn’t usually talk about feelings, so I must have really screwed up to get her to lecture me when I was driving her home. Not to mention a bunch of middle schoolers threatening me if I hurt you.”

Robin bit back a laugh as Steve sputtered and choked. “They WHAT?” he squawked. “I am so sorry, they were totally out of line, I will absolutely be talking to them about-”

“Steve, it’s fine.” Robin said with a grin. “Honestly it was really sweet how protective they are of you. It was kind of hilarious, although that Wheeler kid is gonna have a  _ really _ intimidating glare once he gets a few more inches.”

“You have no idea…” muttered Steve. “Tell you what: we were both dicks, but we both want to be better, how about we agree to just wipe the slate: I’ve never met you and we’ve been assigned to work on a project together. So hi, I’m Steve Harrington!”

“Pleased to meet you Steve! I’m Robin Buckley.”


	3. Secrets and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gives an... edited... version of how he ended up hanging out with the Party, and realizes that he's falling for Robin. Hard.

Robin was actually really fun when she didn’t hate his guts, Steve thought as she threw a french fry at him and he managed to catch it in his mouth. She and Kali cheered and Steve took a mock bow.

“Not a bad trick… I think I might be able to one up you though.” Kali said before stealing one of Steve’s chicken nuggets. She held it in the palm of her hand, then clenched her fist and opened it, with the nugget gone.

“Whaaaaaaat?” Robin asked as Kali closed her hand again and opened it to reveal the nugget. “How did you manage that?”

“A magician never reveals their secrets! C’mon Buckley, you should know better!” Kali teased before throwing the nugget back to Steve. Steve almost managed to repeat his catch, but ended up with the nugget bouncing off his chin and the girls laughing at him. But in a nice way. It was nice. Steve smiled and kept eating.

“So Steve, how’d you end up babysitting your little flock anyways?” Robin asked.

Steve froze. Fuck. He’d known this would come up sooner or later and he’d have to lie about it, or at least the details, but he hadn’t been prepared for it to be  _ now _ . Time to go for broke.

“Well, first of all, the Party- they call themselves the Party, from Dungeons and Dragons, they game they’re always playing- they were all really close before I got involved. Max only moved here about a year ago but she fit right in. Doesn’t hurt that Lucas looks at her like she personally came up with the idea of ice cream.”

“Wait, Lucas has a crush on Max? I knew it!” Robin shouted with a fist pump.

“They’re actually dating, Max just happens to be the only one in the group who understands the meaning of the word subtle.” Steve said, grinning as Robin squealed in excitement. She was so cute when she was happy. Wait, fuck, where did that come from? Shit, shit, he can’t like Robin that way, she’ll-

“Steve? You good there?” Kali asked, her and Robin both giving him worried looks.

“Yeah! Fine!” Steve squeaked, before clearing his throat, shelving his current emotional crisis, and continuing his story. “Anyway, they’re actually kind of a big part of how I stopped being King Steve and realized that everyone who matters is a lot happier with plain ol’ Steve. See it kinda started when Nancy and I had our first major rough patch, two years ago. You probably heard the story about what happened to Barbra Holland- had breathed in the wrong fumes from the lab, was hallucinating, wandered into the woods, fell down, broke her neck.”

“The lab?” Kali’s voice was suddenly tense.

“Yeah, apparently it was like, storing a bunch of chemical weapons or something, and there was a leak that Barb was exposed to. And eventually it turned out there were actually a lot of leaks, hence why the lab got shut down. But see, here’s what you won’t read in the newspapers about Barb’s death.” Steve noted how Kali’s eyes were wide and she was leaning in. “She was last seen at my house. By my pool. Me and Nancy left her alone out there. I know rationally we couldn’t have known, and it’s not my fault. But it still feels like it. And back then we had no idea about the chemicals or any of that stuff. And this was at the same time her brother’s best friend had disappeared, so Nancy was really freaked out. I was… I was an asshole, and when Nancy asked me to help her try and figure out what happened to Barb I basically said I was more worried about getting in trouble with my dad for having a party than I was about finding Barb. Which is probably the shittiest thing I’ve ever said. And I’ve said some really shitty things. Anyways, Nancy started working with Jonathan to try and figure out their mystery. They thought it was too suspicious how Barb had disappeared while Will was missing. And I mean, to their credit, they were right, Will had been exposed to the same fumes, he just was lucky enough not to get hurt while he was lost in the woods.

So anyways, after a little bit some combination of missing Nancy and realizing how fucked up my priorities had been had me going to apologize to Nancy. But I saw her with Jonathan and got jealous and so Tommy H and I wrote some awful shit I don’t wanna repeat on the front of the Hawk. Nancy and Jonathan saw it, I started taunting them, and then Jonathan beat the shit out of me and thank God he did, I might not have gotten my head out of my ass otherwise.”

“Never thought I’d hear a boy be thankful to get beat up.” Robin said, almost sounding impressed.

Steve shrugged blushing, although he didn’t know why (yes he did it’s Robin he’s just like she thought he was when they got assigned the project). “Yeah. Anyways, fast forward a year later. Nancy and I had never really been the same after Barb died. There was this party, and Nancy got drunk, and basically said she was just pretending to love me to try and be normal, and didn’t deny it the next day. So a few days later I showed up at her house with roses, chocolate, the whole nine yards, determined to win her back or break up with her properly. I got there at the same time as Dustin, who was there looking for Mike, and the Wheelers weren’t home, and he was crying a flood because his mom’s cat had died and he thought it was his fault. And like, I was an asshole, but I couldn’t just leave a crying kid alone, especially since I knew his folks had split and I know what it’s like to be missing a parental figure or two. So I ended up driving him around to collect all his friends at the Byers house, and he kinda trapped me there by virtue of refusing to let go of my arm while he cried. But then Billy, Max’s stepbrother showed up. (Steve noted the look of disgust which passed over Robin’s face with the mention of Billy’s name and smiled to himself) He started shouting at Max and the kids and then he pinned Lucas against the wall- he never  _ said  _ it but it was pretty obvious it was ‘cause he’s black- and like, asshole Steve at his ass-holiest wouldn’t have pushed a kid around like that, and even then the kids were kinda growing on me, so I decked Billy and he proceeded to beat the shit out of me. 

It gets kinda fuzzy after the first few times I got punched in the head but according to Dustin Chief Hopper showed up while Billy was wailing on me and chased him off. I dunno if it was realizing how close I was to being someone like Billy, or realizing that Dustin smiling at me and unironically calling me a hero for losing a fight made me feel a million times better than some idiot calling me King Steve. But either way I decided that being popular with a bunch of nerdy middle schoolers was way better than being popular with a bunch of mouthbreathers who only care about booze and boobs.”

Steve wound up his story before taking on a long sip of his milkshake. He closed his eyes. He was pretty sure they would know he was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth, or tell him he was an idiot, or a fake, or-

Steve froze when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. He opened his eyes to see Robin hugging him, and Kali looking at him with a sense of newfound respect, but also with something else behind it Steve would have to think about because holy fuck Robin was hugging him she didn’t hate him he could feel her hair on his neck as she pressed her head against him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you a second chance sooner.” she said softly and Steve’s heart felt like it would burst but at the same time he’s totally screwed and right now he has trouble seeing why that’s a problem.


	4. The Facade pt I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kali asks a question that gets Steve thinking.

“Why do you act dumb?” Kali asked one night as Steve pulled the salmon out of the oven. Robin was at a thing with some of her band friends and Hopper had reluctantly let the Party have a sleepover as long as he was allowed to keep a close eye on them, so it was just Steve and Kali hanging around his kitchen. Theoretically they were working on their project, but they had finished everything they could do without Robin and were now just hanging around and talking while Steve cooked dinner for them.

“Why do you think it’s an act?” he shot back.

“First of all, because you immediately got that I said  _ act _ dumb rather than  _ are  _ dumb. Second of all, because you didn’t get immediately defensive. Third of all, because even though Robin was wrong about you being an asshole, I didn’t think she was wrong about you being dumb until you started actually doing the project and pulling your weight. And fourth, I think if you were as dumb as you seem to want people to think, you wouldn’t be able to be such a good cook.”

“I’m not smart, I’m just not completely brainless. And don’t tell Robin or the kids I said this, but cooking is actually not that hard. You just get the ingredients and follow the directions.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen you take one of the cookbooks off the shelf. Either you’ve memorized the recipes or you’re improvising.”

“A little of both. But even the improvising isn’t that hard, it’s mostly just adding more butter or changing spices to something I like better.”

“See, there’s two more reasons I think you act dumber than you really are. You’re able to think quickly and come up with intelligent responses in the middle of a discussion. And you’re playing down your skills without insulting my intelligence by trying to convince me I didn’t see it.”

“Shut up! No I don’t!” Steve said as he handed Kali her plate of fish.

“Seriously Steve. Why?” Kali said as Steve sat down across from her.

“Would you let me get away with it if I said I didn’t want to talk about it?” he asked.

Kali cocked her head, giving him one of her indecipherable looks. “Yes. But I’m not going to stop being curious. This fish is really good though!”

After that the conversation moved on to easier topics. But the question still remained in the backs of Steve and Kali’s minds.

“Hey Dustin. It’s Steve. You got a minute? Over.”

“Hey Steve! You don’t have to bother with the ‘over’ stuff when Mike’s not in the channel unless you don’t want to though. Like, I like it, it’s just kind of a habit, but you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Anyway, what’s up? Over.”

“Gotta weird question for you: do you think I’m dumb? Over.”

There was silence on the end. “Did Robin call you dumb? Because if she did-”

“Nononono! Nothing like that! I told you guys, Robin and I are good now. It’s just, Kali was over this evening and she asked my why I pretended to be stupid, and I don’t even know if I’m pretending or not. And you’re probably the best person to get an honest opinion about this from, so just tell me: am I stupid? Over.”

There was another moment of silence on the other end. “Steve, of course you’re not stupid. Brains might not be your defining feature, but that doesn’t mean you’re dumb. Just because you don’t like, do super crazy math problems in your head doesn’t mean you’re dumb. And besides, there’s different kinds of smart. Like, Will doesn’t ace every test the way Mike does, but he’s really good at figuring people out. Or Max might not understand how radios work, but she understands how to talk to people. It’s like intelligence and wisdom. You might only have an average intelligence score, but I’m pretty sure you put a lot into wisdom. Except for dealing with girls. Not gonna lie, you’re really dumb about girls. And going back to Kali’s question, are you seriously pretending to be dumber than you really are? Because there’s a big debate in the Party about whether you got accepted anywhere other than the community college but we thought it would be rude to ask. Over.”

“Thanks Dustin. I’m gonna go do some thinking. Also, Iowa State. Over and out.”

“Guys! Guys! We’ve got a Code Gold! Over!” Dustin announced to the Party immediately after Steve left.

“Oh my gosh, congratulations Dustin! Over.” Will squealed.

“What? No, not for me, for Steve! He radioed me and he mentioned that Kali was over at his house! He didn’t say it was a date, but I think it might have been a date! Or at least a pseudo-date. I didn’t press him on it, he had other stuff to talk about. Speaking of which Will, we and El totally won the bet about Steve getting into other colleges! Over.”

“No way, where? Over.” scoffed Mike.

“Iowa State! Y’all owe us ice cream now! Over.”

“That doesn’t count! It-” Mike began.

“Face it Mike, we lost. Over.” Lucas interrupted.

“Yeah, when Lucas admits we’ve lost, we’ve definitely lost.” added Max. 

“Whatever. So Steve and Kali, huh? I guess I can see it. Also, Max, you forgot to say over. Over.” Mike said.

“Fuck you!  _ Over _ .” Max replied, and Dustin could practically hear the eye roll. He smiled as his friends continued to bicker good naturedly. He had the best friends, and the best bro- Steve. He definitely had the best Steve in the universe.

Steve laid back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling before deciding to get in the shower. That was where he did his best thinking. As he waited for the water to warm up, he decided to review the facts. Kali thought he was smart. Dustin thought he was at least kind of smart, and maybe some of the rest of the Party did too, since Dustin made it sound like he wasn’t the only one in the Party who thought he got into anywhere other than HCC. But also, some of the Party thought he was dumb. Jonancy definitely did (also when had he stopped calling them that as a joke and seriously thinking about them that way?). His parents did. Everyone else at school did. Robin probably did.

Steve sighed as he stepped into the shower. Maybe Dustin had a point about different kinds of smart. Maybe he just was more people-smart than book smart. And honestly, being in the same camp as Will Byers and Max Mayfield wouldn’t be too bad. Dustin had managed to weasel his way into being Steve’s favorite (not that he would ever admit to having favorites- he felt bad enough without saying it out loud) but Will and Max were probably tied for second place. He loved them all of course. But he had only met El a couple of times and he felt a special sort of camaraderie knowing that Dustin, Will, and Max had all had dads leave too (it’s just that for Steve his mother went with).

But right. Back on topic: was he stupid or did he just act like it? Kali had actually made some points he found it hard to refute. And he probably shouldn’t put to much weight in the people who thought he was stupid, since if Kali was right and he was just acting then of course they would. But it’s not like he was  _ that _ good of an actor, right? Steve chuckled to himself. Maybe he should have been hanging out with the theater kids instead of picking on them. 

And okay, when he was dating Nancy maybe he’d leave dumb spelling errors in his essays on purpose, but that was just because she would have a smug grin when she pointed them out that was just super cute.

Wait, was Nancy supposed to be smug when he made a mistake? Was she smug when Jonathan screwed up? She had basically said she was using him as a coping mechanism when she got drunk at the party. Had she like, liked correcting him when he was dumb? Did she like, get a power trip out of it or something? She was also really smug whenever they-

Nope! Not going there! Steve shook his head, water spraying out of his soaked locks and splattering against the walls. Okay, so Kali had some good evidence he wasn’t dumb, and he’d had a motive to play dumb when he was dating Nancy. But was he stupid before and after he was dating her? Yeah, and it’s not like he had any motivation. I mean, sure Tommy H probably would have given him endless amounts of shit if he had ever gotten an A. So maybe he did hide those papers and tests on the rare occasions he did well. But that was just to avoid getting made fun of. And he was still stupid after he broke up with Nancy, right? I mean, yeah, his grades had picked up at the end of Junior year but that was just so he’d have a shot at college. And Robin was right that he never really participated in class in college, but he  _ had  _ admitted that was to avoid getting weird looks from his classmates (and certain professors). And his written work was a lot better than high school, although maybe that was because he was able to study with Kali and Robin. And not the euphemistic studying he had done with Nancy, actual talking about class and the reading and what shit meant.

So he had a list of reasons why Kali thought he was acting dumb, and had maybe just created a list of reasons why he would try and convince everyone (and himself) he was dumb. 

And shit, if nothing else, the way he had broken the problem down wasn’t very dumb of him was it? Steve let out a little laugh. He wasn’t dumb! Fuck it, nobody was home, and laughing felt good, so he did it some more.

Oh man, Kali was going to I-Told-You-So him  _ so _ hard.

Then a thought flashed across his mind and he froze. Would Robin like him better smart or dumb? Like, she thought he was dumb, but would she respect him more if she thought he was smarter? Or would she feel threatened?

Fuck it. He’d done enough thinking for tonight. And if Robin seriously disliked him for being smarter than either of them thought, well, then maybe she wasn’t the right girl for him after all. And that probably meant she would be cool with it, because Steve was pretty sure Robin was the right girl for him. He just didn’t know if he was the right guy for her.


	5. The Facade pt 2

“I did some thinking and you were totally right last night.” Steve told Kali as they and Robin sat down for lunch at a little cafe just off campus.

“Wait you mean you didn’t know?” Kali asked, eyebrows raised.

“Not last night.” Steve said with a chuckle.

“What are you two idiots talking about? Unless you hooked up in which case I absolutely do not want to know.” Robin asked.

Steve blushed furiously, and he was pretty sure Kali’s cheeks turned a shade darker even as she rolled her eyes at her friend. “Are we acting like we hooked up? I just asked why Steve pretends to be stupid and he gave me a rain check on that answer. Which it sounds like he’s about to make good on.”

“I guess I am.” Steve chuckled. “And by the way I’m sorry for not answering last night, I kinda spent my night trying to figure it out after you left. But to answer your question, I acted dumb for the same reason I acted like a dick, which is that I thought it would make me popular and therefore happy. And it made me popular, but not happy. Both did. And I think I kinda lied to myself about it. Or like, I just accepted that I was dumb when my dad told me and never really questioned it until you brought it up last night. So yeah, I guess I was kind of acting, but doing it well enough to fool myself. Maybe I should join community theater.”

“Hey, they’re holding auditions for Hamlet this weekend. If you’re through with playing dumb, you should totally put those skills to good use! Gotta keep ‘em sharp.” Robin said with a teasing smile.

“Only if you audition too.” Steve said with a laugh before dramatically holding his soup bowl aloft. “Alas, poor Yorrick!”

“Wait, you’ll seriously do it?” Robin said.

“Like I said, only if you’re doing it too. I don’t want to have everyone to decide I should play Yorrick’s skull and sic set design on me with box cutters.”

Robin and Kali laughed, and Steve smiled back at them. It was nice to not pretend to be a dumb asshole.

“See, that’s just another reason you’re not stupid. You just casually made a Shakespeare reference.” Kali said.

“Please, everyone knows that scene from Hamlet. I’d have to be like, a hermit in Tibet not to have heard of Hamlet.”

“Yeah, except most people would probably say the ‘To be or not to be’ line with the skull even though that’s earlier.”

“What can I say, we had to read it for English freshman year. Remember Mrs Hill?”

“Steve.” Kali said, leaning in towards him. “You’re doing the thing again where you downplay your knowledge.”

“Damnit, you’re right. Okay, confession time, I actually really liked Hamlet.” Steve muttered, looking down into his soup.

“Hey. Steve. Look at me. There’s nothing wrong with liking Shakespeare. I like Shakespeare too.” Robin said with a gentle smile. 

“Harrington, Prince Fortinbras. Parker, Rosencrantz. Collins...”

“Holy shit holy shit holy shit, you got in!” Robin squealed next to Steve as the director read off the casting decisions. Steve had definitely turned a lot of heads when he walked into the auditions, but Robin had a word with the director and it had gotten around pretty fast that King Steve really had turned over a new leaf.

“Oh please, Fortinbras is no big deal, he’s got like three lines. It’s not like I’m Hamlet or anything.”

“Buckley, Ophelia. Hartwell, Claudius. Reinhardt, Gertrude. And Barnes, Hamlet the Younger. Have a good night people! We’re rehearsing this time every Saturday until the show.”

“You got Ophelia!” Steve shouted (not squealed, he definitely did not squeal).

“I got Ophelia!” Robin squealed (yeah she totally squealed, not that Steve thought it was adorable or anything) before pulling Steve into a hug.

“Oh fuck.” Steve thought as he went totally rigid.

Robin held him for a moment before suddenly pulling back. “Sorry, was that okay? I probably should’ve asked first, ya know, boundaries and stuff, I’m just so happy!”

“It’s- it’s fine!” Steve stammered.

Robin gave him a look before grabbing his hand. “Come on, I told Kali we were either gonna go out for drinks to celebrate or go out for drinks as a consolation prize, and this is definitely worth celebrating!”

“Okay, but I kinda swore off alcohol. Besides, you guys are gonna need a designated driver and it’s my car.”

“Any reason why?” Robin asked as she climbed in the passenger seat. “If you don’t want to talk about it though, sorry, I-”

“It’s fine. Probably wondering how the kegstand king became a teetotaler. Honestly it was a lot of things. I first seriously thought about it after Nancy yelled at me at that party when she was drunk, I kinda thought ‘if alcohol turns a nice girl like Nancy into a jerk, what does it do to someone like me who’s a jerk when sober?’. I also wanna set a better example for the kids, since they look up to me for some reason. And I don’t like letting my guard down, what if something happens and I’m too drunk to deal with it?”

“Something like what?” Robin asked with a snort. Steve blushed.

“You never know! Be prepared. Plus I’m pretty sure one of my uncles died of liver failure, so why tempt fate?” Steve said. 

The car was then filled with friendly banter until they arrived at Kali’s place. “We got parts!” Robin shouted as Kali got in the backseat. 

“I guess this is time for a celebratory drink then! I still have to get you two to try absinthe when the time is right though.” Kali said as she buckled her seatbelt.

“A celebration it is! At least for us ladies, apparently Steve doesn’t drink anymore. Needs to ‘be prepared’ for anything! Who knew Stevie was such a boy scout at heart?”

Steve blushed furiously, not at the fact that Robin had called him Stevie, but at the fact that coming from her, he didn’t really mind. “Guys I just had a terrible thought.” Steve said suddenly. “Long term thinking here, will I get more shit from the gremlins if I tell them I’m in the play now or if I delay?”

“Tell them now.” Kali and Robin said at the same time before turning and high fiving each other. “If you tell them now, they’ll tease you until showtime. But if you don’t tell them they’ll find out anyways and never let you live it down.” Kali explained. 

“Ugh, you’re right. How are you always right?” Steve asked exasperatedly as they drove off.


	6. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Babysitter Steve ft. Puberty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was heavily inspired by a scene in A Protector, A Guardian Angel by AshWinterGray, which is a fun story I really recommend.

This was definitely one of his easier babysitting gigs, Steve thought as he sat on the sofa in Hopper’s cabin. It was just Mike and El, hanging out in her room. Hopper had work stuff and insisted they needed a chaperone, and Steve was it. He was actually surprised that they had followed Hopper’s three inch rule without needing to be told, and Steve didn’t really see any need to check on them. Sure, Mike was a high school boy, but Steve was pretty sure he was in love with El and would respect her boundaries. And if he didn’t, she could always hospitalize him with her brain.

So maybe the magic child still scared Steve a little when he thought about it too much. But mostly she was just another amazing kid he looked after. It had killed him a little on the inside to leave her out whenever he was telling Kali and Robin about the Party, but it was what had to be done.

Steve’s thoughts were interrupted when a scream came from El’s room, followed quickly by Mike running out of the room with his face a bright red.

“I swear to God Wheeler, if you-” 

“SteveSteveStevehelpEl’sbleedingdownthereIthinkshe’shavingherperiodJesusChristStevewhatdoIdo?”

“Whoah whoah whoah, calm down dude. You search the medicine cabinet, I’ll search the bathroom. You’re looking for tampons, sanitary pads, or anything with the word menstrual. Just stay calm and don’t freak, okay? I’m sure Hopper’s prepared for this.”

“I can’t believe Hopper wasn’t prepared for this.” Steve muttered as he and Mike sped towards Melvald’s. “When we get there I’ll grab the pads, you get Eggos and whatever kind of chocolate she likes best.”

“I, uh, don’t know. I don’t think she’s really had much exposure to chocolate.” Mike muttered.

“Not even nougat? Dustin’s losing his touch. Right, get a little of everything then, nothing like a chocolate sampling to take her mind off the pain. Meet me up at the register when you’re done, yeah.”

“Okay. And Steve… thanks.”

“No worries kid, I don’t blame you for freaking out a little.” Steve reassured him.

“Well that, but also like, being cool about… ya know… me and El, and not like, being all Hopper about it.”

“I’d like to think I’m at least a little bit cooler than the police chief. Speaking of which, remind me to strangle him for making me deal with this.” Steve said as he pulled into the Melvald’s parking lot.

“Hey Steve, what brings you here?” Kali asked with a smirk as Steve tried not to panic at the large array of products in the “Women’s Health” aisle.

“Oh, I was watching some of the munchkins when Max’s period started. She didn’t have anything for it, so here I am, trying to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to be buying her.”

“Really? She was complaining to me about having it last week.”

“FUCK!” said Steve’s brain. “That doesn’t sound normal. I’ll have to try and find some way to talk to her about getting to a gynecologist.” Steve’s brain said. When did he get so good at lying to his friends?

Thankfully, Kali seemed to accept it, and placed two boxes of sanitary pads in Steve’s hands. “One for Max, one for your glove compartment.”

“That’s… actually a really good idea. Thanks Kali! I owe you one!” Steve said before walking towards the counter.

“Another one, you mean!” she called after him.

The next day, with Hopper thoroughly chewed out, (in retrospect Steve was actually he managed to berate Hopper, even over an oversight as glaring as not having any period supplies for your teenage daughter) he had an idea while he and Kali were catching up Robin about yesterday.

“Hey, so I had a thought. Mike was like, super freaked out and clueless about periods, so the rest of the gentlemen shitheads probably are too. Do you guys think you could like, tell them what to do in situations like that, or give me some tips to pass on to them? I’d do it myself but honestly I don’t have the greatest track record of giving them advice about anything relating to women.”

“That sounds like a story and a half.” Kali said bemusedly.

“Not really. Dustin wanted some advice on how to get a girl to like him. I was still feeling kinda hurt about Nancy and I told him to act like he doesn’t care. I’m pretty sure he was smart enough to discount that particular nugget of wisdom, though. But anyways, what should I tell the guys?”

Kali and Robin shared a look. “You let us take care of that, little Stevie.” Robin said with a grin, and suddenly Steve felt like he’d made a terrible mistake.

“What is this Steve? What kind of surprise is at your house?” Lucas asked as he herded the original four members of the Party out of his car.

“And why isn’t Max here?” added Dustin as they went inside.

“Well you see gentlemen…” Steve began as he ushered the boys into his living room. “I couldn’t help but notice that you guys have no idea what to fucking do when anyone says the word ‘period’ outside the context of punctuation. So I’ve invited my friends here to help you, for lack of a better term, get your shit together.” Steve said, smiling over at Kali and Robin. “So I’ll just leave you guys to it, maybe get a start on-”

“Oh no you don’t!” Dustin said, grabbing the sleeve of Steve’s shirt. “If you’re putting us through this, you’re going through it with us!”

“Yeah Steve! Taking Women’s Studies doesn’t give you credits for  _ this  _ lesson.” Kali said with a smug smile.

“But I- fine, but only because I need to make sure you don’t traumatize the shitheads.”

“Aww, he cares about them! Okay, first thing’s first. Raise your hand if you know what a uterus is.”

Steve sighed as he raised his hand, then sighed again when the only other person who raised his hand was Lucas, and that was only halfway in the air. This might take a while.

“Steve, that might have been the best idea you’ve ever had!” Robin said with a smirk after Steve had dropped the boys off back at their houses. 

Steve groaned. “Why am I friends with you guys again?” he asked the girls as he flopped down on the sofa.

“Because we’re smart and funny and beautiful and you love it when we compliment you cooking. Speaking of which, what’s for dinner?” Kali said, playfully leaning on Steve’s shoulder. 

“There’s the phonebook. Here’s my wallet. You two order something while I go find a hole to die in.”

They ordered pizza. One had anchovies. The other had pineapple. Steve was not amused.


	7. Confessions pt1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve admits his crush. Robin comes out. El blows up a phone.

“Dude, she was totally hitting on you.” Robin said grumpily.

“Nah, that’s just how Dana is. She’s really friendly with everyone.” Steve said as he walked back to sit next to Robin as they watched Polonius practice getting stabbed through a curtain.

“Please, Steve, don’t play dumb. First of all, as part of the hair and makeup team she doesn’t even need to be here until dress rehearsal. Second of all, how convenient was it that you were the  _ first _ person she asked to practice on? And third, did she even cut your hair at all? It looked like she was just running her hands through it and waving around a comb and scissors while you two chatted.”

“Robin, seriously, it’s not like that. We were just vaguely friends in high school. And she definitely evened things out in the back. And most of our conversation was her asking how I got involved in community theater or asking about my hair routine.”

“Which I  _ will _ figure out!” Dana said, sitting backwards in a folding chair the row in front of Robin and Steve. “I’ve ruled out all the normal men’s hairspray, so at this point I’m assuming it’s something exotic, illegal, or both. What’s your secret, Harrington? Infant’s blood? Hummingbird tears?”

“Both, plus a little cobra venom.” Steve said with a wink. “Have you met Robin? Dana, this is Robin, Robin, this is Dana. And  _ that _ is the stagehands asking for a hand with those boxes. Be back in a sec, okay?”

Steve dashed off and Robin and Dana turned to each other. “Hi Robin! I’m Dana. Like, ya know, like Steve said. So I hope you don’t mind me asking, but like, are you and Steve… ya know… a thing?” she asked blushingly.

“Nope. He’s all yours. Just… don’t expect old Steve. Be good to him.” Robin answered coldly.

“Wait, you thought- no no no, I’m not interested in Steve like  _ that _ , although I think we could be friends now that he’s not hanging around assholes like Carol. I just wanted to… understand your relationship dynamic?” Dana said, flushing an even deeper red.

“Yeah right. Listen, I don’t-”

“Hey guys! The costumes arrived early! Check it out!” Steve called, beckoning the two over.

“Coming!” Robin said before shooting one last glare at Dana.

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing there between Dana and I! She’s just a really nice girl, but even if she was into me, I’m not into her.” Steve said as he and Robin climbed into his car. 

“Still not over Nancy, are we?” Robin asked as Steve turned the key in the ignition.

“No! But there’s… someone else.” Steve admitted.

“Ooh, now you gotta tell! Who is she? Or he, I don’t judge.”

Steve’s blush was obscured by the late night of Hawkins. “It doesn’t matter.” Steve muttered. “I don’t know if they like me back.”

There was a moment of silence before Robin said “You know I’m pleasantly surprised you didn’t freak out about me asking if it was a guy.”

Steve chuckled. “Believe me, old Steve would have freaked the fuck out. But like I’ve said, I’ve had a bit of a paradigm shift (You totally stole that term from that book we had to read by Cartman!) over these last couple years. I guess now I just think life is too short to get hung up on the bits and bobs of who people like. I’m not a f- I’m not a homosexual, but I don’t care if other people are. Plus, I think Will might be- ya know, that- but I don’t really know. But either way he’s still Will and he’s still gonna be one of the adorable little gremlins I’ve somehow managed to adopt.”

“Huh. That’s surprisingly mature and insightful.” Robin said. “I wish more people could look at it like that.”

They drove in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before Steve pulled up outside Robin’s house, but she didn’t move to get out of the car. “Sure you don’t want to talk more about your crush problem?” she asked, giving Steve a knowing look.

“No, I- I guess, the issue is that she’s in Women’s Studies with us and I don’t want to come across as the guy who’s just taking it to hit on girls like you said a while ago.”

Robin gave him a long, sad look. “Is it Kali?” she asked.

“No, it’s… you… and I’m guessing you don’t feel the same way based on how you’re reacting and I’m really sorry if I made things awkward and I-”

“Steve. Listen to me. It’s okay.” Robin said sternly. “I’m honestly flattered that you think about me like that. But it’s not because of anything you’ve done, okay? The thing is, I… I’m into girls. I’m a lesbian.”

“Oh. Okay.” Steve said emptily, looking down at the steering wheel.

“We can absolutely still be friends though. If- if you want.” Robin said hesitantly.

“I’d like that.” Steve said with a small smile. “Have a good night Robin.”

El opened her eyes in the inky blackness of the void and smiled when she saw Kali laying down on a bed reading a book. She hadn’t checked in on her sister in a while. El knew they would likely never come together again- she didn’t even bother using her powers to locate Kali any further than “on this bed” in order to remove the temptation to go see her.

Then a phone rang, and El watched as Kali sat up to answer it.

“Steve?” she said. “Are you okay? Why are you crying? Are you hurt? I can’t hear you very well, there’s a lot of static.”

El leaned in closer. There was no way Kali was talking to  _ her _ Steve. Steve said there were a lot of people with that name. Then there was a bang and Kali leapt back with a gasp as her phone exploded.

El removed her blindfold and opened her eyes before wiping the trickle of blood from her nose. She hadn’t realized her observations could affect electronics like that. Interesting.

Then El heard Steve’s voice through her radio: “Everyone, we have a code red. My phone just exploded. We have a code red.”

El sighed, a habit she had picked up from Hopper. This would take some explaining.


	8. Confessions pt2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve tells Kali the truth about his role in the events of the past two years.

“Hey El.” Steve said as he walked into Hopper’s cabin later that night. It had taken a lot of halting explanations and reassurances from El to call off the code red, and Nancy and the other Byers had also been dragged out of bed.

“I’m sorry.” she said, looking down at the table where she sat next to Hopper.

“It’s okay kiddo. But, uh, why were you blowing up my phone?”

“It was an accident. I was watching my sister.” 

“Wait, you have a sister?” Steve asked, confused. And so El awkwardly stumbled out where she went before she came back to close the portal. Hopper had already heard it, and according to El all the rest of the Party knew was she was visiting someone like her.

“Okay so let me get this straight.” Steve said. “Last year you skipped town to visit your mom, who showed you a memory of another girl like you, who you went to find. She was a vigilante killing bad men. And now apparently she’s my classmate at Hawkins Community College and one of my best friends. Okay. This is fine. Totally fine. Side note: what has my life become?”

“Is  _ this _ what’s finally prompting that question?” Hopper chuckled. Steve sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Well fu- well dang. How do I tell her about this?” Steve asked.

“Start from the beginning. She will listen.” El said confidently.

“Isn’t this Lover’s Lake?” Kali asked as Steve pulled his car to a stop the next day.

Steve blushed furiously. “Yes but we’re not there for- for  _ that _ . I need to tell you something and it’s gonna take a while but I need you to listen and not kill me at least until the end.”

“Is this about why you were crying last night?”

“No, it’s about why our phones exploded.” Steve said.

“I’m listening.”

“Okay, so first thing’s first: Hawkins National Laboratory dealt with psychic experiments, not chemical weapons.” Steve watched as Kali went stiff, but she let him continue. “I had to lie to you and Robin when I was telling you how I ended up hanging with the kids and stopped being an asshole. There’s this alternate dimension called the Upside Down- the kids named it- and there’s monsters there called Demogorgons and Mindflayers- the kids named them too.. Maybe there’s only one Mindflayer, we don’t know. Anyway, a Demogorgon is what killed Barb, and it dragged Will into the Upside Down. There’s this girl, Jane Hopper- though she goes by El- who was an experiment who escaped from the lab. She fell in with the boys- Max hadn’t moved to Hawkins yet- while they were in the woods looking for Will. In the end, Hopper and Will’s mom went through the gate into the Upside Down in the lab and got him out. I showed up at the Byers house as Nancy and Jonathan were using themselves as Demogorgon bait and I helped them fight it. We got it to step in a bear trap and set it on fire before it went back into the upside down. Meanwhile at the middle school the boys were there with El and a bunch of government agents were there to take them back. El did  _ something _ to them- Dustin described it as ‘melting their brains’ and El doesn’t like to talk about it- and anyway the Demogorgon went there and killed a bunch of agents before El destroyed it but somehow launched herself into the Upside Down doing it. Following so far?” Steve said, taking a breath. Kali nodded warily.

“Great. There’s more. So while I was trying to forget that I ever fought a monster with a nail bat El had gotten out of the Upside Down through one of the portals the Demogorgon made- it can make temporary portals, we think- but she ran off to live in the woods because people from the lab were still all over and it wasn’t safe for her to go to anyone she knew and she didn’t have the social skills to live anywhere with other people. Eventually Hopper found her in the woods and took her in without telling anyone, even the others who knew she existed. Meanwhile the thing with Nancy happened at the Party and I found Dustin outside the Wheeler house like I said, except he wasn’t so much upset that his cat died as he was that the alien slug he found in his garbage can ate it. He said he had trapped it in his cellar and wanted me to kill it for him. So I went, because even though I really didn’t want to get involved in this stuff again I felt like I had a responsibility as one of the few people who knew outside of the lab people. So I got the nail bat and went into Dustin’s cellar but the thing had just shed its skin again and dug an interdimensional tunnel out. So we started setting up a trap for the thing at the junkyard with Lucas and Max. Except it didn’t fall for the trap and it turned out there was a lot more than one of them and I thought they were gonna kill us but right at the last minute they ran off, it turns out they were called to attack the Byers house where everyone else was trying to figure out how to disconnect Will from the Mindflayer- he kinda got possessed- and El showed up to save them and we showed up to help too and so in the end Hopper took El to close the gate, Mrs By- Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy took Will to Hopper’s cabin to fry the Mindflayer out of him, and I was left at the Byers house with the rest of the kids. But then Max’s asshole brother, Billy showed up looking for her but it wasn’t safe for her to leave and he started pushing Lucas around so I hit him and he broke a plate over my head and beat me unconscious. But apparently Max stuck a syringe of sedative in his neck while he was beating me and then threatened to crush his balls with the nail bat if he didn’t leave us alone, so next thing I know I’m in Billy’s car with Max behind the wheel because the kids decided to go into the tunnels the Mindflayer had made under Hawkins and make a distraction. I ended up going in with them and we almost died- Mike and I had a close call, Dusin had two- and we torched the tunnels, saved Will, and El closed the gate.

Now cut to last night when we were talking on the phone and it exploded. I immediately got on the radio and called a code red because exploding phones and flickering lights are classic signs a Demogorgon is nearby. But El told me it was her fault and to call it off so I did, reluctantly, and I drove out to the cabin and she explained that last year before she came back to the Byers house in the nick of time she was with her sister in Chicago and she was checking in on you through the void last night when I called you and apparently her powers blew up the phone. I am now done, you may now kill me or question me or ask me to drop you off somewhere as you see fit.” Steve finished. 

“Why would I kill you?” Kali asked after looking at him for a few moments.

“We’re going with questioning? Great, that’s probably the best outcome, but could I start driving back to my house? I’m parched.”

“Yeah, definitely. But why would you think I might kill you?” Kali asked as Steve started driving.

“El said you kill ‘bad men’ but I don’t know how you determine who’s bad or if you’re even still doing that. I thought there was a possibility you would decide I’m bad or just kill me to keep your cover intact. I still don’t know why you’re here, I’m assuming it’s because of El or the lab.”

“It’s because of El.” Kali admitted. “And I don’t hunt people any more. I would still kill anyone from the lab if the opportunity arises, but I don’t go looking for that opportunity. I’m here to try my hand at living a normal life while still being here for Jane- I mean El.”

“Why didn’t you tell her?” Steve asked.

Kali sighed. “I was worried how she would react. I didn’t know if she would forgive me. I’d love to talk to her again but I don’t know if that’s what she wants.”

“I’ll ask her about it, if you want.” Steve said. “And either way, I still wanna be your friend.”

“Thanks.” Kali said with a small smile. “You don’t mind that I’ve killed a lot of people or that I could make you go insane with visions?”

Steve shrugged. “It’s like El. I know El’s killed people, and could easily kill me, but I like her, and I know if she kills me I’ll probably have done something to deserve it. Same with you. Probably the same with Hopper, although I don’t know for sure if he’s killed anyone. It’s all about trust. I  _ could _ beat the shitheads to death with the nail bat- not including El, obviously- but I’m obviously not going to do it because I care about them and therefore don’t want to.”

“That’s an interesting way of looking at it.” Kali said, and they drove in contemplative silence until they reached Steve’s house.

“So why  _ were  _ you crying last night?” Kali asked as they walked inside. Steve laughed as they walked past the broken phone.

“It seems so stupid now. I told Robin I had a crush on her and she shot me down.”

“Oh… I’m sorry Steve.” Kali said awkwardly.

“It’s fine. She likes who she likes. Honestly my Demogorgon panic and learning that I happened to befriend El’s sister kind of pushed it to the back of my mind. She probably deserves better than me anyways.”

“Hey. Don’t make this into a pity party. Speaking of things that start with P, do you have any of that pasta from the other day left over?” Kali asked.

“In the fridge, top shelf, red tupperware. You know, I’m starting to think you just like hanging around me for my amazing cooking skills.”

“Well, not  _ just _ your cooking, though that certainly helps. You’re a nice guy to hang around with. And I will not rest until I know the secret to your hair.”

Steve laughed. But he didn’t miss the genuine compliment in the middle.

**Author's Note:**

> Please gib comments 🥺


End file.
